Industry Sports is in the business of renting indoor practice space, whereas many of the local indoor baseball practice facilities exist primarily as a place for the organization’s training. Our space is great for teams and individuals via full facility rental and individual memberships, respectively. 

Because we have no “skin in the game” in terms of which team or league your son plays in we get asked about various leagues and organizations in the Southern Westmoreland and Northern Fayette County areas.  Before we get into the various leagues and organizations, I think it’s worthwhile to review what kind of organization is best for your child.

What Is The Best Baseball League for a Beginner?

Beginning players should probably start in a recreation league.  The Southmoreland Recreation and Bullskin Township Recreation leagues both rent time at Industry Sports for winter workouts, which is something most recreational leagues do not offer.  If your child is eligible to play in either of these leagues it is a great way to get a lot of repetitions for a very reasonable price.

Other nearby leagues in the area include West Point Little League, Hempfield Recreation and its satellites, and Sewickley Township Recreation..  To the best of my knowledge these leagues do not offer league wide winter workouts.

Some recreational leagues have affiliated Travel teams.  For example, the West Point Little League has the Mountain View Mudcats, which consists of league members and is formed by a yearly tryout.  This is a way to allow children to be a part of travel ball while still staying in the recreational league.  In addition, West Point is a sanctioned Little League, which means any player that makes the All-Star team has a chance to compete in District and State Playoffs.  During the 12u season the All-Star team has a chance to make the Little League World Series.

Chances are if you are reading this article, you are most likely interested in a travel team because recreation programs, by their nature, are not as hardcore as travel teams.  Typically, recreation teams have limited practices, and the experience and quality of coaching varies significantly from team to team.  In addition, you as a parent don’t have control over what team or coach your child ends up on. 

Rec programs do not make cuts, so you end up with a wide variety of skill and commitment levels among the players, which tends to be frustrating to high achieving players.

You might get lucky and have a great coach, but there are no guarantees.  Some recreation programs allow coaches to carry over players from previous years or make up their own teams which leads to uneven games with big winners and losers.  The focus of recreation programs is generally to give a taste of the sport more than to develop within the sport.

Travel programs frequently have a coach that is quite invested.  Generally, these coaches were parents who weren’t satisfied with the recreation program.  They wanted to field a team of invested players who also want more than the recreation league can provide.  

How to Pick a Travel Program

There is no consistency from one travel program to the next.  Anyone can start a team and enter tournaments.  The quality of the program is dictated by the Coach’s knowledge, attitude and ethics.  Some are more cutthroat and will trim underperforming players yearly while others will stick to the core group and only add players if the team experiences attrition.  Some will make sure the entire team plays an even number of innings and some will keep reserves on the bench for longer stretches.  

Additionally, some travel programs will stick to relatively local tourneys while others may require you to spend significant time and money traveling with the team.  Traveling far away forces parents to commit entire weekends to one child while incurring significant expense for hotel and gas. 

Traveling Can Be Fun!

My perspective on travel comes as a dad of 3 children.  It’s a burden on the family to dedicate an entire weekend to just one child.  And my wife and I often end up spending weekends apart because our kids are playing hundreds of miles away from each other. 

Having said that, the travel aspect isn’t entirely bad.  Your travel team tends to become a second family and the weekends can be a great time.  And if you only have one child or the younger siblings enjoy going to games then it can be fun for the whole family.  My youngest loves playing with the younger siblings during and between games.

What to know about Travel Tournaments

Tournaments present their own set of challenges for players.  Your child will be playing multiple games per day.  Baseball games are not especially physically demanding so multiple games in one day isn’t unreasonable, but the games can be really hard on pitchers.  Depending on the tourney rules and ethics of the coaches it will be up to you as a parent to ensure your child does not suffer overuse injuries.  There are coaches who will risk your child’s throwing arm for a weekend trophy for their game room.

You will also find that you are investing in tents, coolers, wagons, sunscreen, blankets, and comfy chairs to keep yourself comfy during long tourney weekends of sun, cold, rain, and wind. Keep this in mind when deciding if travel ball is right for your family.

Your Kids Will Love the Spirit Wear

My sons love wearing their team spirit wear to school and as everyday clothing.  There is an element of pride in being on that travel team and they love to show it off.  

Levels of Travel Ball 

Travel tournaments are typically labeled as B level, A level, or Select / Open.  There are some C tournaments, but I haven’t seen many, and it would be hard to field a team hoping to play in multiple C tournaments.  What I have seen is that after the rec season is over you can typically find C tournaments for a few weekends.

Select/ Elite programs are typically offered by a professional organization and will play in either A or Select/Elite tourneys.

Many see these organizations as a path to get their child exposure to college coaches, or at the very least as a way to get professional instruction to give their child the best opportunity to continue playing as they get older.  Typically, these organizations have paid coaches, although the assistant coaching roster may be filled out by parents of team members.  

The advantage of a paid coach is that the coaches shouldn’t show favoritism and they should have prior playing experience at the college or pro level, but the disadvantage is that these coaching positions typically don’t pay well so the coaches commitment level may not be as high as a parent coach.

Something to consider is that Open and Select Tourneys are typically played without a maximum innings per run rule, without pitching inning or pitch count limits, and allow baserunners to lead.  Basically, these tourneys are a miniature version of adult baseball.

Select / Elite teams typically have a fee for tryouts, and they often have multiple uniforms and can cost as much as $1500 to $3000 for a season.

Which One to Choose?

The choice between recreation vs travel baseball comes down to the level of commitment you want to make as a family both in terms of time and money.  

Recreation leagues are a great way to introduce your child to the sport without committing a lot of time and money.  If your child has an aptitude for the game, they can try out for a travel or select team for next season.  Tryouts generally take place in August or September of the year prior to the season starting so make sure you are on the lookout for announcements starting in the summer. 

Travel teams will cost more in terms of both money and time, but some teams do a lot of fundraising to help offset the costs.  You’ll probably be selling super bowl squares, NCAA March Madness brackets, and various snacks throughout the year.

Select Teams typically play in 4-6 tournaments a year, so the travel load may be less than an unaffiliated travel team.  These teams generally don’t require fundraising but may make it available.  And they will most likely have professional coaches.  Expect to pay from $1500 to $2000 for a season.  

When Are Travel Team Tryouts?

Travel teams typically have their tryouts in late July or early August.